Lock arrangement



J. D. SMITH LOCK ARRANGEMENT Filed March 14', 1962 I9 n To EMF 39C SOURCE 9 3 39 Flc. 7 29 39,0 FIG.3

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AMES D. SMITH United States Patent O 3,152,826 LOCK ARRANGEMENT .Iames D. Smith, Box 7, Pendleton, S.C. Filed Mar. 14, 1962, Ser. No. 179,697 7 Claims. (Cl. 292-341.16)

This invention relates to an improved lock arrangement, and more particularly to a lock arrangement which permits the selective un-locking of a normally locked door or other closure from a remote position or positions and without requiring synchronization of the unlocking action with opening of the door or other closure.

In gasoline service stations and various other organizations which cater to and serve the public it is customary to furnish toilet facilities for customers. Due to considerations of sanitation, good will, and the like, it is often desirable to keep these toilet facilities locked except when a customer desires use thereof. This is commonly effected by having a key-operated lock on the rest-room door, the service station attendant then loaning the key to each customer as the occasion arises. Not only does this result' in loss of keys, or locking of the keys in the rest-room in case of self-locking doors, but also there is the further complication that lady customers are very reluctant, and often embarrassed, to ask the usually male service station attendants for the key. This condition will oftentimes result in present or future loss of a customer.

It is accordingly a feature of this invention to provide a lock arrangement which may be normally maintained in locked condition, and which may be selectively altered to unlocked condition by an operator, preferably remote therefrom, and which will remain in this unlocked condition without further operator attention until the opening of the closure which is associated with and controlled by the lock, the lock then automatically resetting to locked condition.

A further feature is the provision of a lock system for a service station of other facility which permits the station attendant to unlock from one or more external remote control positions, the door or doors of restrooms or other enclosed facilities which are normally kept locked, the relocking of the door lock being effected by the act of initial opening of the previously locked door. Preferably a manual knob may be provided on the inside surface of such a lock-controlled door, whereby the door latch can be moved lto permit reopening of the door from inside for exiting, although such cannot be opened from outside without further unlock-effectingaction at one of the external control positions. p

Still another feature is the provision of a remote control lock assembly which may be used with a conventional retractable plunger latch, if desired, and which permits unlocking of a closure associated therewith either by releasing the restraining action on the plunger latch by a female holding and restraining assembly, or by conventional manual retraction of the plunger latch from the female holding and restraining assembly.

A still further feature is the provision of a lock arrangement which is normally in locked condition and which after unlocking thereof retains its unlocked condition until a closure associated therewith and controlled thereby is opened, the lock being self-resettable to locked condition as a function of opening said closure.

A further feature is the provision of a lock assembly incorporating an unlock-holding arrangement which upon selective actuation thereof maintains the lock assembly in unlocked condi-tion until a closure associated with the lock is opened, whereupon the holding arrangement is deactivated and permits the lock to'return to a normal locking condition. In a preferred embodiment of this feature the unlock-holding arrangement is electroresponsively act- 3,152,826 Patented Oct. 13, :w64

uatable and mechanical in its holding and self-resetting action.

Still other features and attendant advantages will become apparent to those skilled in the art from a reading of the following detailed description of several illustrative embodiments constructed in accordance with the invention, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGURES 1 and 2 are fragmentary exterior and interior schematic views of a room wall and door arrangement incorporating the present invention.

FIGURE 3 is a plan view, with the casing cover partially cut away, of a lock arrangement according to the present invention and as incorporated in FIGURES l and 2.

FIGURE 4 is a section view taken on line 4-4 of FIG- URE 3, with some parts fragmentarily cut away for purposes of clarity of illustration, the lock being illustrated in this view in the reset-lock condition, which is the normal condition.

FIGURE 5 is a section View similar to FIGURE 4, showing the lock in self-holding unlocked condition after momentary energization of the electromagnet.

FIGURE 6 is a section View similar to FIGURES 4 and 5, illustrating the lock-resetting operation during opening of the door with the latch extended.

FIGURE 7 is a schematic illustration of the electrical circuitry of the illustrative embodiment.

FIGURES 8-10 are schematic fragmentary views of an alternative lock-reset modification according to the invention, showing the parts respectively in normal lock-reset position (FIGURE 8), self-holding unlocked position (FIGURE 9), and during door opening with the latch extended (FIGURE 10).

Referring now in detail to the gures of the drawing, a door 11, conventionally swingably mounted as on hinges 13b is normally held in a locked closed position within the supporting and surrounding framework 13a therefor, by a conventional spring-actuated or otherwise bias-exerting door closer device 15 and a lock 17. Lock 17 may be selectively released by momentary closing of one or any one of several operator-controlled release switches 19, which are preferably spring-return push button switches. The release switch or switches 19 may be disposed at one or several desired locations remote from the door 11, as in an office of a service station having a restroom for which thedoor 11 serves as a closure in one wall 13 thereof.

The lock 17 is suitably mounted as by headed screws 21 passing through holes 23 in the lock case 17a and secured in the xed door framework 13a, and is adapted to receive a conventional spring-biased male plunger or latch 25 which may be retracted manually from one side only of the door 11, viz. the side facing the room to be closed, as by a hand knob 27. A person outside the room cannot open the door unless a switch 19 has been closed, as by the station operator.

An important feature of the invention lies in the pro- Vision of a self-holding arrangement, and particularly a self-releasable and resetting self-holding arrangement, preferably electromechanical, in the lock 17 which enables the operator to fully release the door 11 by momentary closing of a switch 19 and which does not require further holding of the switch down to permit one to open the Y Va case 17a in which are suitably mounted one or more electromagnets having coils 29 and a single armature 33 pivotally mounted, as on a pin or stub pins 33a suitably carried by case 17a as by securing on the side walls thereof, the armature being resiliently biased about its pivot axis, as by a leaf spring 31 on the face of the armature 33, toward drop-out posit-ion against a limit stop 35 secured to the case 17a. Armature 33 is notched on each lateral side thereof to form shoulders 33b with an intermediate tongue end portion 33C extending outwardly therebetween. The armature 33, through its shoulders 33b, serves as a retractable stopt for selective engagement by two catch arms 37 pivotally mounted at 37a on the case 17a at opposite ends of a retractable plunger-retaining-and-releasing member in the form of a catch 39. The catch 39 is likewise pivotally mounted on case 'a as indicated at 39a, and is resiliently biased by a spring 4l toward locked position. Catch 39 may include a roller 39b at its free end to permit ease of release movement of the plunger 25 during opening of the door 1l.

Catch 39 carries two side pins 39e which engage respectively with the catch arms 37 to move the catch arms counterclockwise and clockwise upon similar pivotal movement of the catch 39. In the full drop-out or reset locked position of the armature 33, the armature bears against limit stop 35 (as shown in FIGURE 4) and its shoulders 33a will be directly engaged by the catch arms 37 during any attempted opening of the door 1I by merely pushing on the door, whereas in the pulledain position of armature 33, after energization of electromagnet coils 29, the catch arms 37 are free to pivot counterclockwise in front of the armature, as viewed in FIGURES 5 and 6. This latter pulled-in position of the armature also permits the catch 39 to swing about its pivot axis merely by pushing the plunger 25 thereagainst, as by pushing the door Il inwardly without use of the manual knob 27.

It is most desirable that it not be necessary to hold the electromagnet(s) energized in order to permit the catch 39 and plunger 25 to be disengaged from one another in opening the door. According to the preferred mode of practicing the invention this is effected by providing auxiliary means, preferably mechanical, for retaining the armature 33 at or close to its pulled-in position adjacent the coils 29 upon momentarily closing an then opening the coil energizing circuit by pressing and releasing one of the switches 19. T this end, a self-releasable armature catch in the form of a leaf spring 43 having a detent lug 47 secured or formed thereon, or formed by a shouldered reverse bend therein, is mounted in cantilever the normal reset-locked position with the lug 47 restingy directly on the armature, upon armature 33 being pulled counterclockwise therepast by energization of electromagnet coils 29 the detent lug 47 will drop down below the outer tongue end 33e and retain the armature 33 in pulled-in position, or sufciently near its pulled-in position, as shown in FIGURE 5, to permit the catch arms 37 to move counterclockwise in front of the armature to` the position shown :in FIGURE 6 upon pushing'of the plunger latch 2.5 against the catch 39. Thus, the lock 17 is in latch-release condition and maybe opened once at any time after this energization of the electromagnet coils Z9.

However, it is desirable that the door not be subject to being opened but one` time after a given closing of a switch 19 and energization of the electromagnet coils 29, and to this end either the leaf spring 43 or the catch 39 is provided with a cam extension 49 (FIGURES 3 6)V or I49 (FIGURES 8-10) which serves to cause raising of the leaf spring 43 to release and reset the armature 33 to reset-locked position upon inward movement of the catch 39,about its pivot axis as a result of first opening of the door 11 by pushing on the door and thereby pushing plunger 25, in its normally extended or unretracted condition, past the catch 39. Upon passage of the plunger past the catch 39 and return of the catch to its plunger retaining position, the reset armature 33 will once again be in catch-locking position as described above and shown in FIGURE 4.

In the rst embodiment as shown in FIGURES 3-6 the cam extension 49 is formed on the convex surface of the catch 39 and engages an outwardly turned lip 43a formed on the adjacent facing free end of the leaf spring 43 upon opening movement of the catch 39, thus raising the leaf spring 43 and detent lug 47, as shown in FIG- URE 6, and thereby releasing the armature 33'. Upon this release, the armature 33 moves under the influence of spring 33b to its normal reset-locked position against stop 35, as shown in FIGURE 4, thereby preventing reopening of the door 1.1 except by use of the manual control knob 27, as by an occupant who has thus entered the room through the door 11, or by subsequent closing of a switch 19.

In the alternative embodiment as shown in FIGURES S-IO, the basic parts of the lock are identical to those shown in FIGURES 3-6. In this embodiment, however, a cam extension 149 is formed by a bend in the leaf spring 143, which cam extension 149 is engaged by the adjacent facing arcuate cam surface of the catch 39 to raise the spring 143 and release the armature 33 from the detent 47 on the spring 143 upon first pushing of the door 11 open after pressing a switch 19 closed and momentarily energizing the electromagnets to pull in the armature 33.

The release and reset action of the catch 39 on the leaf spring l43 to permit self-resetting of the armature to normal plunger-locking position is thus basically similar to that of the previous `first described embodiment.

While the invention has been shown and described with respect to two illustrative physical embodiments constructed in accordance therewith, it vwill be apparent that various modifications and improvements may be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. Accordingly, it is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited by these illustrative embodiments, but [only by the scope of the appended claims.

That which is claimed is:

1. A lock arrangement for use with a latch, comprising a pivotally movable latch-retaining member, locking means including an armature for locking said latch retaining member in latch retaining position, deactivating means including a solenoid coil associated with said armature for deactivating said'locking means and unlocking said latch retaining member for latch release, holding means for maintaining said locking means in latch releasing condition and including a unit resiliently biased toward said armature and having a detent engageable with said armature to releasably hold said armature in latch releasing condition, and means operatively associated with said holding means and responsive to pivotal Ymovement of said latch retaining member as a function of movement of a latch lfrom retained to released position to deactuate said holding means, said last named responsive means including a cam surface rigidly positioned on said latch retaining member and actively engageable in movement imparting relation to said holding means unit to release said armature during and as a positive function of pivotal movement of said latch retaining member away from its normal latch retaining position.

2. A lock arrangement Vfor use with a plunger, comprising Ia pivotally mounted plunger retaining element having a radially outwardly facing cam surface formed on the radially outwardly extending surface thereof, means including a pivotally movable solenoid armature adapted to selectively effect holding and releasing of said plunger retaining element, a solenoid coil adjacent said armature, means resiliently biasing said armature to said position effecting holding of said plunger retaining element, means holding said armature in said position eifecting release of said plunger retaining element as a function of energization of said solenoid coil, and means operative as a function of pivotal movement of said plunger retaining element to effect release of said armature holding means, said armature holding means comprising a movable member movable in a plane substantially normal to the pivot 'axis of said plunger retaining element and being a cantilever mounted leaf spring having a stop surface and an adjacent raised surface adjacent and engageable with one end of said armature, said raised surface being normally engaged with said armature and said stop surface being engageable With said armature as a function of movement of said armature through sequential energization and deenergization of said solenoid coil, `said armature being releasable from said stop surface as a function of camming engagement between said leaf spring and said radially outwardly facing cam surface of said plunger retaining element upon movement of said plunger against said `plunger retaining element to effect freeing of said plunger.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1 vwherein said cam lsurface is integral with said latch retaining member.

i ture in a plane substantially perpendicular to the pivot axis of said latch retaining member, said armature being pivotally mounted about a pivot axis extending substantially parallel to the pivot axis of said latch retaining member. Y

6. A lock arrangement for use with a latch, comprising a pivotally movable latch retaining member, locking for maintaining said locking means in latch releasing con- Y dition and including a unit resiliently biased toward said armature and having a detent engageable with said armature to releasably hold said armature in latch releasing condition, and means operatively associated with said holding means and responsive to pivotal movement of said latch retaining member as a function of movement of a latch from retained to released position -to deactivate said holding means, said armature being pivotally mounted for movement about a pivot axis extending substantially parallel to the pivot axis of said latch retaining member, said holding means unit being angularly movable toward and away from said armature in a plane substantially normal to the pivot axis of said latch retaining member, and said means to deactivate said holding means including a cam surface facing in a generally radially outwardly direction relative to the pivot axis of said latch retaining member for circumferential camming engagement thereof with said holding means unit as a function of pivotal movement of said latch retaining member.

7. Apparatus according to claim 6 wherein the effective portion of said cam surface increases in radial distance from the pivot axis of said latch retaining member in an angular direction extending away from said holding lmeans unit and toward the zone of latch entry and exit,

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 738,824 MacMillan Sept. 15, 1903 1,383,269 Fienberg et al June 28, 1921 2,030,324

Schmidt Feb. 1l, 1936 

1. A LOCK ARRANGEMENT FOR USE WITH A LATCH, COMPRISING A PIVOTALLY MOVABLE LATCH-RETAINING MEMBER, LOCKING MEANS INCLUDING AN ARMATURE FOR LOCKING SAID LATCH RETAINING MEMBER IN LATCH RETAINING POSITION, DEACTIVATING MEANS INCLUDING A SOLENOID COIL ASSOCIATED WITH SAID ARMATURE FOR DEACTIVATING SAID LOCKING MEANS AND UNLOCKING SAID LATCH RETAINING MEMBER FOR LATCH RELEASE, HOLDING MEANS FOR MAINTAINING SAID LOCKING MEANS IN LATCH RELEASING CONDITION AND INCLUDING A UNIT RESILIENTLY BIASED TOWARD SAID ARMATURE AND HAVING A DETENT ENGAGEABLE WITH SAID ARMATURE TO RELEASABLY HOLD SAID ARMATURE IN LATCH RELEASING CONDITION, AND MEANS OPERATIVELY ASSOCIATED WITH SAID HOLDING MEANS AND RESPONSIVE TO PIVOTAL MOVEMENT OF SAID LATCH RETAINING MEMBER AS A FUNCTION OF MOVEMENT OF A LATCH FROM RETAINED TO RELEASED POSITION TO DEACTUATE SAID HOLDING MEANS, SAID LAST NAMED RESPONSIVE MEANS INCLUDING A CAM SURFACE RIGIDLY POSITIONED ON SAID LATCH RETAINING MEMBER AND ACTIVELY ENGAGEABLE IN MOVEMENT IMPARTING RELATION TO SAID HOLDING MEANS UNIT TO RELEASE SAID ARMATURE DURING AND AS A POSITIVE FUNCTION OF PIVOTAL MOVEMENT OF SAID LATCH RETAINING MEMBER AWAY FROM ITS NORMAL LATCH RETAINING POSITION. 